Aircraft.



M. M. HALTOM.

' AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.2I. 1918.

Patentea Dec. 31,1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

M. M. HALTOM. AIRCRAFT; APPLI-CATIONIFIYLED sEPT.2| 191a.

htented Dec. 31, 1918.

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APPLlCATlON FILED SEPT. 21. 191B.

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AIRCRAFT,

Specification of Letters Patent.

- racemes Dec. 31, rats.

Application filed September 21, 1918. Serial No. 255,146

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, MARGELLUS M. HAL- TOM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ripley, in the county of Lauderdale and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Aircraft, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to airships One of its objects being to provide parachutes mounted in a novel manner so that theywill not interfere with the operation of the machine while in flight, said parachutesbeing adapted automatically to become dislodged from their housings and to be spread out when the machine descends, thereby to retard such descent and thus prevent injuries due to falling.

Another object is to provide parachute holders of novel form and to utilize connections between the parachutes and the car of the air ship whereby the air ship will be supported equally by the parachutes,when descending.

"With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combina tions of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims,- bemade in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown. in said drawings- Figure '1 is a side elevation of the airship, the parachutes being shown, by dotted lines, in elevated or supporting positions.

Fig. 2 is'a plan View.

Fig. 3 is avertical transverse section showing the parachutes in action.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 designates the body of the airship, which can be of any desired configuration and is provided along each side with elongated baskets 2 extending longitudie nally and consisting of strong frames 3 and a bottom of open mesh fabric 4. Sustaining or-rolled into a compact planes 5 are extended laterally from these baskets and located at any suitable points within the body 1 are engines 6 for driving the machine. A propeller 7 is disposed at the front end of the body'and is secured to 'a longitudinal shaft 8 receiving motion from one of the engines. The other engine transmits motion through gears 9 to a vertical shaft 10 which extends above the body and is provided at its upper end with a lifting wheel or helicopter 11. This wheel 11 works within a cage 12 erected on the body 1 and which acts as'a guard to prevent the wheel from becoming entangled with the parachutes hereinafter mentioned.

Normally housed within each of the baskets 2 is a parachute 13 which can be folded bundle and the cords from each parachute are extended downwardly through the bottom of the basket and under the body 1. These cords are normally folded up in the baskets and their lower ends are secured to the body 1..

It will be obvious that under normal conditions the parachutes will be housed and will not interfere with the flight of the airship. Should the machine fall, howdescent be desired ever, or should a sudden and the operation of the lifting wheel 11 be stopped, the rush of air through the bottoms of ,the baskets 2 will be sufiicient to dislodge the parachutes therefrom and cause them'to open and draw the cords 14 taut, as shown in Fig. 3. The descent will thus be retarded suficiently toprevent damage. I

The airship can be controlled in flight by any suitable mechanism, not shown, connected to rudders 15.

What isclaimed is 2- 1. An airship including a body, separate means connected thereto for propelling the body upwardly and forwardly, a guard structure housing the upwardly propelling means, baskets at the sides of the body and under the upwardly, propelling means, sustaining planes, parachutes normally held in the baskets by the air pressure from the upwardly propelling means, said baskets having foraminous bottoms, and cords connecting the parachutes to the body.

2. An airship including a body, a helicopter, baskets in the body and under the heli as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signacopter and havlng foraminous bottoms, parature in the presence of two Witnesses.

chutes normally held in the baskets by air pressure due to the action of the helicopter, MARLELLDS M' 5 and'flexible connections between thepara- Witnesses:

chutes and the body. W G. LYNN,

In testimony that I claim the foi'eg'oing JOHN A. GRAY. 

